Florence and the Cinque Terre

From Rome we headed to Florence, via Ottaviano, a picturesque, walled city situated on top of a rocky outcrop. Everything you imagine from a Tuscan city. It had a beautiful Duomo and lovely winding cobbled streets, lined with shops selling pottery which the village is famous for. After holding up the bus due to our over-enthusiastic sight-seeing, we headed to Florence. We only had an afternoon in Florence, we headed out to see as much as possible, which turned out to be not so much, when you compared it to Rome. However, Florence is a very beautiful and artistic city, home to the famous David, the third largest dome in the world after St Peter's and St Paul's, and many well-stocked art galleries. Unfortunately we saw none of these. We did see the fake David, the Duomo was still magnificent from the outside, and we walked across the famous jewellery shop-lined Ponte Vecchio, a bridge that crosses the river Arno.

After our short stay here; it was off to the Cinque Terre, via Pisa. The leaning tower was not quite as large as we thought it would be, but we took our photos with it and carried on. We were dropped off in a town near the Cinque Terre, and caught a train from there, through the tunnels under the mountains to our destination, and caught a few glimpses of what was to come. After dropping our bags at the hostel, we headed straight to the beach and went for a much needed swim. The next day we headed for the Cinque Terre. The Cinque Terre, for those who don,t know, is a world heritage site, with five villages spaced out over 9 kms of mountainous terrain. The first three are the most popular, as they are quite a low grade hike, and although they manage to bring up a sweat, are not overly difficult. The next two hikes are about an hour and a half each, and although we didnt know it at the time, are a lot more difficult. We decided (foolishly) that we would start at the easy end and work from there as the largest "free beach" was at the last town. We strolled along, admiring the beautiful view of ancient towns, coloured buildings, sparkling Mediterranen sea and beautiful coastline. All the while, complimenting ourselves on what great hikers we were. This all changed midway through the walk between the third and the fourth town. The sun had reached its peak, and sweat was starting to pour off us, our legs felt like jelly and every step was that bit harder. We carried on the fourth town, where it was worth it to see the beauty of the town. We stopped for a long lunch, where Shaun managed to order the oiliest pizza in the world (perfect hiking food). After our rest, we hit the last and most arduous part of the track. We had been warned by a few hikers on the way that it would be more difficult, but we didnt think it would be much harder than the last section. About ten minutes in, we realised it was, and managed to struggle along. All the while, admiring the beautiful scenery. Finally, we made it to the last town, for a well deserved swim. It was a beautiful walk, with amazing scenery, the likes of which are not to be seen anywhere else in the world.